It has long been recognized that overly-critical, excessively strict parents can definitely form abnormal growth patterns and a tendency to develop anxiety disorders later in lives of their children.   While no specific statistics exist on this pattern of “driven-to-anxiety” atmosphere it is, nonetheless, a real and highly prevalent phenomenon in children who experience an anxiety attack.  This is especially true in closely-held nuclear families wherein the child is not permitted independent comparative experience with others outside the family that are in their age-group.

There may even be examples where the parents themselves are overly anxious personalities but are able to cope with their condition better than their children.  Many of the related studies of the live of the parents in question suggest that their lives were equally controlled by their parents.  In some extreme cases, however, the opposite appears to have occurred, wherein these parents lived unmanaged lives and are determined to see that their children fare better. 

There have been recent clinical studies of entire family units wherein both the parents as well as their children are sufferers of an anxiety disorder.  The purpose of these closely controlled studies was to determine the effect of the future anxiety-management patterns of the children as their parents were being treated.  While the statistics are not presented here, it is clear that several of these studies have shown improvement in the condition of the untreated children of treated parents.

One fact remains clear throughout the published results of many if not most of the recent studies of this condition – physical, psychological, hereditary, environmental and social – and that is that this condition is extremely complex in both its origins and treatments.  

The behavior patterns of the parents of panic attack children that are being both studied and manipulated are excessive criticism, overprotection, and open expressions of anxiety and fear in the presence of their children.  Involved behavior manipulation-related studies also include attempts to lessen family arguments, competition, and general strictness. 

Another solution-related development in recent years is driven at the expansion and increased level of cognitive problem-solving as an independent additive in the lives of GAD sufferers.  Not only has this led to general improvements in life-management skills but also the ability to focus on problem fixation in GAD sufferers.  What is at the heart of this cognitive problem-solving improvement is the apparent recognition that GAD sufferers with low cognitive problem-solving skills may simply not be equipped to stop anxiety from spiraling out of control.